Five years ago, an 11 year old girl stepped foot on the shimmering ice of the East West Ice Palace. Eyes twinkling, she grinned; she knew she had found her new passion.
As she holds out her hand and glides across the ice, junior Charisse Ng’s face lights up with a smile for the first time that day. Her movements swift and graceful, she twists and turns in tandem with the swelling music. Though the wind rushing past her is as cold as the ice she skates upon, nothing but warmth and exhilaration flows through her veins.
These fluid, self-assured movements are in stark contrast to her first experiences with skating. Ng’s interest in the sport initially surfaced in second grade when she discovered a book about illustrious figure skater Michelle Kwan. At 11 years old, her dreams became a reality when her parents enrolled her in private figure skating classes at the East West Ice Palace in Artesia.
Two years later, she entered her first official competition representing the Los Angeles
Figure Skating Club. As time passed, skating began to play a pivotal role in Ng’s life—her evolution as a skater and her development as an individual go hand-in-hand. Now, Ng is determined to hone what are, in her opinion, the three most important attributes a figure skater should have: passion, drive and skill.
Ng’s dedication to figure skating has contributed to her growing self-confidence, something which has taken much time to develop. When she first began skating, Ng was painfully timid; she still recalls hanging her head awkwardly and nodding silently when her coach spoke to her. Slowly, Ng’s enjoyment dwindled, but she persisted, remembering the excitement she once felt when watching Angela Nikodinov’s jumps and Michelle Kwan’s lutzes. When she entered high school, something shifted: she learned how to prioritize skating for herself rather than for others. As she became more in tune with her personal goals, her love for skating rekindled. Watching rising talents like Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen only solidified her resolve. She became more daring—her movements grew bolder, her eyes glowed brighter and her head was held higher.
“I want to [be able to] look back and say ‘I’ve improved’ and be proud of myself,” Ng said. “I can say that I’m actually proud of myself because I’ve spent so many years doing something that I really love.”
Her renewed passion for figure skating drives her to skate, but Ng’s mental fortitude helps her continue on her journey. Her dedication to the sport runs deep: she recalls the many injuries that she’s suffered with a smile that is sheepish but not regretful. In her freshman year, she fractured her knee, rendering her unable to jog or run for months. More recently, she fell on her hands and had to wear a brace to school.
Despite such adversities, Ng remains steadfast and continues to attend her weekly six-hour practices. She’s grown stronger since the beginning of her skating career, and no setback will stop her from reaching her goals of winning a competition and becoming a more confident skater.
“I know there are some skaters who just do it for college or because their parents force them,” Ng said. “But I think it should just be about having fun and striving [to achieve] a goal.”
One of the most radical and obvious changes, however, is Ng’s growth in skill. Her first program, a spirited and powerful routine to the song “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked, is one that she remembers clearly. She knew the choreography, the jumps and the song, but the struggle to master them took much longer. She attended rigorous practices for hours on end to perfect every move, and as her confidence soared, so did she. Ng’s eventual mastery of the program marked the first of many victories which would shape her life.
“When I first started, I was just scared,” Ng said. “Honestly, [“Defying Gravity” is] a really powerful song, [but] I was still weak and timid. [Channeling] that song [in my routine] helped bring me out and made me bolder and stronger as a person.”